Before we get started, we must pay our respects to the late, great, Whale with their theme song, Brass Bonanza.

If you don’t know who the Hartford Whalers were, if you’ve only started watching the NHL in the last 15 years or so, the Whalers were the team that moved to Carolina and became the Hurricanes. The above theme song is a cherished classic of the their days in the Insurance State of Connecticut, a tune composed by an aspiring songwriter named Jack Say. It became the Whalers’ “song” after goals were scored, and soon became as much associated with the Whalers as their big green logo.

(The song was abolished [1]from the Hartford Civic Center in 1992 by former GM Brian Burke, who claimed players were embarrassed by it. But when Burke was fired a couple years later, the song returned and remains popular at Connecticut sporting events to this day. Incidentally, the song Burke replaced Brass Bonanza with was Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll, Part II”[2] – the iconic sports arena song (Hey!) that first was played after goals at…Colorado Rockies games in the 1970s…and would be the song played after Avalanche goals for years and years until the team foolishly stopped playing it (Patrick Roy and Joe Sakic – BRING IT BACK!!!!).

I don’t remember too many regular season games anymore after all these years, but I remember this one. Partially, this is became the Whalers might have been the first team that I actually rooted for as a little kid growing up in New England. “New England” was the team’s name before they became the Hartford Whalers. From 1972-79 they were known as the New England Whalers, and they were on television a lot even back in those rabbit-ear days. In fact, if you read the great oral history book on ESPN[3], you’ll learn a lot about the Whalers and how integral they were to Connecticut and how, to this day, they are beloved by many people who still work for the Worldwide Leader in Sports in nearby Bristol, CT.

The Whalers had some of the greatest players in hockey history play for them, including Gordie Howe and his two sons, Mark and Marty. I couldn’t believe it as a little kid thinking, ‘Wow, Gordie Howe plays for my team…’ They also had legends like Dave Keon, Pie McKenzie and even Bobby Hull. In fact, the Whalers were Bobby Hull’s final team ever. He played nine games for the “Whale” in 1980, and to people like me who are obsessed with the final year of great players[4], who finished up with a weird team (a la Johnny Unitas/Chargers, Bobby Orr/Blackhawks, Franco Harris/Seahawks), a Bobby Hull Whalers jersey is a Holy Grail collectors item. Can you even imagine what it must have been like to cover that 1979-80 Whalers team of the NHL? At one point, you had Bobby Hull, Gordie Howe and Dave Keon in the same locker room, in Hartford!

(You want to stump anyone in a trivia contest, though: ask them what was the last NHL jersey Bobby Hull actually ever wore as a player. It was of the New York Rangers. In 1981, Hull played four exhibition games for the Rangers in an aborted comeback attempt at age 42, with one goal and one assist. One goal and one assist in four games? Today, that would get you a $2 million-a-year contract).

So anyway, I was excited when the Whalers came to town for this game way back in the spring of 1996 at McNichols Sports Arena. One of the reasons why was to get to hang out with the great Whalers beat writer, Michael Arace, of the Hartford Courant. I’ll embarrass Michael a little bit now, but I actually read his stuff when I was still something of a kid. He not only covered the Whalers, he covered the Red Sox and Celtics for the paper – and in the small town where I grew up, Arace’s stories were often featured in the local paper, in kind of an “AP wire story” arrangement.

It has always been one of the greatest parts of my job, getting to meet some of the people I grew up reading. Arace was one of them. He’s still writing today, as a columnist with the Columbus Dispatch. He’s a brilliant writer, one of the best. If you have a lot of time on your hands some time and want to really read some great stuff, go back into the archives of the Hartford Courant [5]and click on a lot of Arace’s stories – especially from Hartford’s final season in the NHL.

(Speaking of sports writers from the Courant that year, I almost worked with one. I’m sure he won’t mind me saying this all these years later, as it’s a form of flattery. But after I was hired as the Avs beat writer in 1995, we still needed an “NHL at large writer” on the staff. And the first guy who was interviewed was current Courant columnist Jeff Jacobs. The paper flew him out to Denver and everything, and I had lunch with him to talk about what it might be like to be a twosome covering Denver’s first NHL team. But the Courant fought to keep Jacobs, and so they did). Jacobs wrote many great columns on the Whalers’ final days, including this one[6]).

When Hartford came to town, they were a listing, financially-strapped team, with a disgruntled superstar, Brendan Shanahan. I still remember well, going out for beers with Arace after the game on this night – and remember, there was no 24/7 Internet then, so when the game was over and you were “past deadline” there was nothing you could do if any big news broke late, short of hijacking the airwaves of a TV or radio station. Shanahan wasn’t too happy with this team and was murmuring stuff to Arace about it, and Arace’s mind was still distracted somewhat when we pulled up to our bar stools at the Denver Chophouse[7]. He kept worrying if he’d gotten as much as he could on the story, but more than that – he knew he had a good story regardless for the next day’s paper, and anytime a reporter had that back then – when the whole city could see it -the wait until morning was an excruciating one. Now, if you have a big, hot story, you put it on Twitter as fast as you can[8].

Shanahan wanted out of Hartford, and he would get his wish not too long after this game. But on this night, he still wore the navy blue road uniforms of the Whale against the home club Avalanche at Big Mac. The next year, Arace came to town for the final time as a Whale beat writer and had a player who, if memory serves, would play his final game with Hartford as a disgruntled star. That player was Paul Coffey.

Patrick Roy – acquired just a little over two months prior to this night – entered the contest with 299 career victories. The focus of much of the pregame show – hosted by Prime Sports’ Drew Goodman, was on Saint Patrick’s quest for the new benchmark. Drew is a friend of mine, so he won’t mind the observation that he had just a little more hair back then:

Here’s your 1996-era graphic of Roy’s chase for 300:

The Avs came into this game at 29-15-10, while the Whale were at 21-25-6 – 10th in the Eastern Conference. This was the fourth of a five-game Western road swing for the Whale, they won the first three games, at Los Angeles, Anaheim and Vancouver. The Avs came in on an eight-game unbeaten streak and cruising to a Pacific Division title. But Detroit was still the class of the Western Conference.

Let’s pick up the action as we get ready for the opening faceoff. First off, the quality of this VHS tape is tremendous. I can’t believe I have these tapes now. Don’t forget, I’ve never seen this game before, other than when I was at it firsthand. It’s amazing to see it again, from a different angle.

Wow, there are the old Red Dog Ale ads at center ice, the ubiquitous beer sponsor of the Avs that first year that no longer exists. Wait, what? They still can be found in stores in Milwaukee[9]? No way!

First minute of the game, Nelson Emerson goes to the penalty box for tripping Valeri Kamensky. Or, as Prime Sports referred to him as:

Maybe too much Red Dog in the TV truck already. Jason Muzzatti is in net for the Whalers, his first start since mid-December. Gotta love the Avs’ chances in this one against the rookie.

Wow, Troy Murray is on the first power-play unit here. Can’t imagine why that was the case, as Muzz wasn’t known for his scoring touch. Troy Murray today is a color analyst for the Chicago Blackhawks, and a tremendous guy. A great pickup by Pierre Lacroix in that season, just the kind of veteran that did little things necessary.

Kamensky wipes out the PP with an interference penalty, setting a pick on a Whale defender. Is there a more under-appreciated member of Avs history than Valeri Kamensky? People forget just how great a talent he was, and what kind of goals he could score[10].

You know you’re watching old TV technology here when: remember when graphics came on the screen and they made a buzzing sound that was annoying? I’m getting all kinds of those here. Hello 1996, good to have you back.

Here’s the first thing I had forgotten from this game: Andrei Nikolishin was on this Whalers team. He played on that Avs team of 2003-04 and was involved in the Steve Moore-Todd Bertuzzi incident. He’s on the Whale first PP unit here as they try to score with Emerson Nelson out of the box. He misses a bunny right out of the box too.

FIGHT! It’s Curtis Lechsyshyn against Kevin Dineen at center ice, after Dineen gives Curtis (I always hated spelling that last name, always had to do it nice and slow in my mind) a cheap shot in the Avs’ zone. Kevin Dineen give a cheap shot? That never happened. Curtis wins the fight pretty easily. He was a very strong guy. Dineen has a bloody nose, but is unperturbed as he goes to the box.

AD BREAK: Gene Hackman doing a voiceover for United Airlines, back when flying on an airline was kinda fun, and United was basically the only airline that flew out of Denver…Donald Sutherland doing a voiceover for Volvo. Does anyone still drive a Volvo?…Dave Thomas for Wendy’s. RIP.

We return to action and…SCOORE. Joe Sakic, with a sick wrister over the shoulder of Muzzatti. Super Joe came down the right side after taking a saucer pass from Adam Deadmarsh and sniped the biscuit top shelf to, as Connecticut resident John Buccigross of ESPN would say, where the thin mints are hidden. That was such a classic Sakic shot, a lean-in wrong-foot laser from the opposite side, rising all the way until it rippled the twine. *copyright “rippled the twine”

Geez. Here’s a guy you might recognize from this game too, from his younger days:

That guy above, Peter Forsberg, just made two great passes on the same shift to linemate Paul Brousseau, but the kid muffed them both. And we now know why Paul Brousseau never made it in the NHL[11]. And I know 99.9 percent of you forgot – just like I did – that Paul Brousseau played briefly on this team.

Here’s a great item of information from awesome Avs analyst Peter McNab from this game: Whalers coach Paul Maurice, age 29, the youngest coach in pro sports at the time, was one of three NHL coaches who were the youngest in all of pro sports at the time. The others? Steve Kasper with the Bruins and the Avalanche’s own Marc Crawford.

We know who had the best hair among the three:

SCOORE: Steven Rice of the Whalers ties it up, on a bang-bang play around the net. (Bang-bang is the kind of description I often use for “There was too much that happened there for me to accurately describe in a sentence” goals). It’s 1-1 now and Roy looks a little ticked off afterward. He did that little turkey-neck snap that he used to when he was either mad or getting there. The D was a little soft on this goal, with the Avs’ fourth line on the ice.

AD BREAK: I swear, I have never heard of this former cable TV service. Have you?

Penalty, Jeff Daniels, not the anchorman from “The Newsroom” but the former Whaler, to the box. While he does, here’s a shot of Stephane Fiset in an Avs uniform from that night:

SCOORE: Peter Forsberg, a very rare slap shot goal, right off the faceoff after the Daniels penalty. It’s 2-1 Avalanche and John Kelly is going crazy on that one. John Kelly – great announcer, still going strong today in St. Louis. Foppa just made everyone look silly on that play, taking Sakic’s faceoff win and crushing it past Muzzatti.

FIGHT: Warren Rychel against Scott Daniels here. Good fight, about a minute long. A draw, but Rychel did well. That didn’t always happen, but he was always a willing participant. Kelly Chase of the Whalers is irate that Daniels got an extra two minutes. We could have a melee here soon. Chase wants some revenge on this.

Shanahan was wearing No. 94 for the Whalers then. I’ve never quite liked high-number guys. I mean, unless you’re Gretzky or Lemieux or Bourque or Lindros, I don’t like them. They say “I think I’m better than everyone” when it’s not often warranted. That said, Shanny was a great player. He would be a Detroit Red Wing a few months later, you might recall.

That’s the end of the first, with the Avs leading 2-1.
AD BREAK: GMC Jimmy, official truck of the Avalanche…Andre Aldridge for “The Press Box” on Prime Sports.
BETWEEN PERIODS INTERVIEW: BRENDAN SHANAHAN.

Shanny says: “We had some chances. That’s one of the stronger teams in the league and we battled, and scored a pretty good goal on Patrick Roy. We just have to keep putting pucks on net.”

Shanny was usually a better quote than that. But as would later be proven: Shanny hated it in Hartford and wanted out. His heart just was never in Hartford. *copyright

Kevin Eschenfelder did the between-periods show for Prime Sports here. I just don’t remember the guy at all. Am I losing it?
AD BREAK: The Sporing News, the “publication that treats every team like the home team.” The Sporting News no longer exists in print form.

SECOND PERIOD: Sakic misses on a wide-open breakaway in the first two minutes. Just missed on a back-hander on Muzzatti. Sakic could easily have four goals in this game so far.

Penalty on Shanny for tripping Forsberg. Shanny looks peeved, but it was a penalty upon further review. These two guys would have some future antagonistic moments.

Here’s the Avs PP here: Sakic and Sandis Ozolinsh at the point, with Forsberg, Scott Young and Deadmarsh down low. On the bench still to come: Kamensky and Claude Lemieux. Just a little talent on this team.

But Muzzatti makes some nice saves here, especially on bids by Ozo and Kamensky. The Avs are letting the visitor hang around too much in this game, something that drove Crawford crazy with this group. And then…and then, we know what would happen in the coming few months. Things improved.

Shanny comes out of the box off the successful kill, and the Whale seem buoyed by this. Robert Kron nearly scores coming on the ensuing shift.
And…here’s what I was waiting for: a shot of Joel Quenneville on the Avs bench. Does he look a little younger?

It was only a few years before when Coach Q was a Hartford Whaler. You can look it up[12]

The Whale get a late second-period PP, but the best scoring chance comes on a Sakic-to-Forsberg rush, but Foppa put the shot just wide. Again, the Whale allowed to hang around, when they’ve been pretty well dominated throughout.

AD BREAK: Dave Logan and Scott Hastings for the Sports Zoo on KOA radio. Hastings has crazy glasses on. I’m starting to get a little tired.

Claude Lemieux misses the easiest scoring chance he’ll ever have gotten in his career when play resumes, off a Kamensky feed. He missed a one-footer. It should be 8-1 right now, but it’s still only 2-1.

Shanny goes to the box again for a slash. He’s playing awful in this one. But you have a feeling things might change for him in the end. The Avs, indeed, can’t capitalize. Crawford looks ticked. He’s barking stuff on the bench after that PP, but things don’t seem to be registering to his troops. Lemieux, for one, seems to be thinking “Relax coach, this is only February still. Talk to me when the playoffs start.”

But this team really did drive Crawford crazy until things magically coalesced in the playoffs. He absolutely screamed at the team all the time, thinking they were coasting too much on their talent, not playing tough enough. This was the kind of game that he would have cited as a prime example of “this is why we didn’t win the Stanley Cup” that year, if they hadn’t won the Stanley Cup.

Whale go on the PP late in the period. SCOORE: Andrew Cassels with a pretty goal, a great tip of a Glen Wesley shot. And that ends the period, tied 2-2. Crawford looks even more ticked heading off the ice.

AD BREAK: Red Dog, “You Are Your Own Dog” With slogans like that, it’s a wonder they ever failed.

Second period intermission guest: Mike Ricci:

I told you this was an old tape. Look at that short hair. A year later, he looked like one of the Hell’s Angels. Ricci was hurt at this time. He’s feeling better, he says, should be back soon.

FAST FORWARD: A very uneventful third period, no scoring. Not many chances. We go to overtime, 2-2. Get a goal for Roy, and he’s the 12th player in NHL history to get 300 wins. But the Avs just don’t seem to have the will to get it done now. Game over.

Adam Burt, who would score all of four goals on the season, gets the game-winner with about two minutes left, a routine shot from the point that Roy just flat-out missed. He punches the glass upon exiting the ice, and Crawford does a brisk walk off looking irate, as the Whale celebrate:

The Avs just kind of let up after taking that 2-1 lead and couldn’t get anything going again. Let’s see how I summed this game up from the next day’s Post, in 1996:

By Adrian Dater, Denver Post Sports Writer
Patrick Roy was going for his 300th victory, and the Colorado
Avalanche was playing an under .500 team at home, a team that
was playing at the tail end of a long road trip.
The chances of victory seemed good.
But there was absolutely nothing good about the game from a
Colorado perspective at McNichols Sports Arena last night.
The Avalanche somehow was beaten by the Whalers 3-2 in
overtime, denying Roy the milestone victory in the process.
Low-scoring defenseman Adam Burt scored just his second goal
of the year late in overtime past Roy to shock the Avalanche.
Colorado now heads off for a tough three-game road trip next
week in Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Florida.
After beating Winnipeg, the New York Rangers and Montreal in
the first three games of a five-game homestand, Colorado looked
toward its last two against Tampa Bay and Hartford with visions
of a sweep in mind.
But Colorado got just one of four points in the final two
games, and left people scratching their heads again as to just
how good this team is.
Don’t be deceived too much by the shot totals for the last two
periods and overtime. Colorado may show a 23-10 advantage, but
Hartford was the harder-working team. Especially in overtime,
when almost all of the play was deep in the Avalanche zone.
And with 3:24 left in overtime, Burt took a puck at the blue
line and flipped it toward the net. Roy was heavily screened on
the play and never saw the puck before it careened in off his
pants and into the net.
“”It was just bad luck on the third goal,” Roy said. “”It
went through everybody and off my pants. You’ve got to credit
the (Whalers) guys in front of the net. I didn’t see it at all.”
Did the Avalanche take the Whalers lightly?
“”No, we respect Hartford,” defenseman Craig Wolanin said.
“”Most teams will rise up to your level, and they’ve been
playing well lately. We were scrambling around our own end in
overtime and it cost us.”
Jason Muzzatti, playing in place of injured Whalers goalie
Sean Burke, made 30 saves for just his second career victory.
The Avalanche’s play hardly inspired awe in the first period.
The Whalers outshot Colorado 14-9.
But the Avs had the lead by a goal after the period, thanks to
the talents of Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg.
Sakic put a nifty move past Whalers defenseman Andre
Nikolishin near center ice, then skated into the Whalers’ zone
down the right side. Sakic blazed a wrist shot past Muzzatti for
his team-leading 37th goal of the of the year at 5:37.
Hartford got the equalizer, however, at 11 minutes of the
first. After Wolanin turned the puck over in the left corner,
Steve Rice put in a loose puck in front of Roy.
“”I didn’t think I had a good first period,” Roy said.
Colorado was given a power-play at 13:29, though, and it
didn’t take the Avs long to take advantage – just three seconds.
That’s when Forsberg took the faceoff from Sakic and put a
slap shot past Muzzatti from the slot to make it 2-1.
Hartford’s play didn’t set the world on fire in the second
period, either, but it was the Whalers who scored the only goal.
At 16:43, center Andrew Cassels made a nice tip-in of Glen
Wesley’s shot from the blue line to even the game.
Colorado outshot Hartford 11-5 in the period, and many of them
were outstanding chances. But Muzzatti was equally outstanding,
turning every shot away in the period.
In the first 15:41 of the third period, the Avalanche outshot
the Whalers 9-2, but didn’t beat Muzzatti with any of them.
The best of the chances came with the Avs on the tail end of a
power play. Sakic was set up nicely by Forsberg in the left
circle, but his shot was barely gloved by Muzzatti.
Colorado’s Claude Lemieux was tossed from the game early in
the third after spearing Glen Weatherstone, and Hartford had a
five-minute power-play.
Unbelievably, the Whalers didn’t register any shots on Roy.
But Hartford had the best chance of the period with two
minutes left. Andre Nikolishin had an open net after Roy kicked
out a rebound of a slap shot, but he missed it wide left.

I must have been under a pretty bad deadline that night, because that wasn’t a great game story I wrote. Like the Avs, I seemed to have had a bit of a lackluster night.

But it was still fun looking back. Thanks for taking the trip back to the past with me, folks.